Quantcast’s EMEA recruiter, Lorcan Carpenter, talks about working in tech and what Quantcast look for

Lorcan Carpenter is Quantcast’s EMEA recruiter based in their offices on Dublin’s Silicon Dock. Quantcast is a tech company that analyses audience measurement and real-time data in a truly innovative away. It is one of the five biggest data processing organisations in the world and processes more than 800,000 transactions per second.

Lorcan has recruited for some of the best known tech companies in the world and has some advice for people looking for jobs in the sector.

Office Floor

Its not just all work in Quantcast

What do people need to know about working in tech companies like Quantcast?

It’s a place where someone who has a vision for what their career should be and can shape their own career. There are very few rules and regulations. People don’t look over your shoulder at what you do, they look at the result of what you did and judge you on that. It’s a positive and supportive environment. Once you demonstrate what resources you need, you’ll get them.

That can be tough for people to show in job interviews, it’s hard to tell a recruiter: “Leave me alone and I’ll get the job done.”

Good point. What we look for is people who have demonstrated leadership and have examples of working in teams and achieving things on the back of their own initiative. We’re going so fast that we need people to step and take up responsibility, people need to be comfortable with that.

Office hallway

Kitchen

You’ve personally got a lot of experience recruiting in tech, what insight would you share with people looking to work in that sector?

A lot of people, especially in the early stages of their career, focus on getting in someplace with a big brand name. They don’t focus on getting exposure to senior management or on working in a place with opportunity for career development. That surprises me and disappoints me. People look at the brand name rather than the opportunity.

A lot of other companies are ‘tech-ifying’ their image as well, is that something people need to keep an eye on?

People should be aware that things like digital marketing have become so expansive that they mean different things to different companies. They need to find out what they find fun and interesting in any digital role, that can only be done by talking to people about it. There is a preconceived notion about the digital sector that it’s all ping-pong and beanbags but there’s lots of hard work as well.

Bean-bags and computer games

Office Vespas

So how can people show that they’re cut out for this world and aren’t just interested in the beanbags?

Well what we do at screening interviews is ask them to tell us about an experience they’re particularly proud of. Then we delve into that to see what was their actual role in the project, what they did versus the people around them, who they had to influence and what they would do differently now. It’s a tough question but it is designed to allow them to excel rather than catch them out.

Beyond that what makes people stand out in interviews?

Someone that can clearly articulate the Quantcast proposition at any stage of the interview will do well. That proves that they’ve spent the time looking at our YouTube videos and reading white papers about what we do. Our product is hard to understand so someone who gets it will stand out. That applies for everyplace now though, you have to go beyond just reading the homepage to impress the recruiter.

Interested in a job with Quantcast? Discover their 25 jobs across Europe here.